22.01.10 Norway gas ‘not arriving’

The National Grid has pleaded with Norway to send more gas, after the recent cold snap forced the closure of a major gas processing plant on the Ormen Lange gas field, one of the largest natural fuel reserves in Northern Europe.

Located close to the town of Kristiansund, Norway, Ormen Lange is responsible for a good chunk of the UK’s gas, some 39 cubic metres. The fuel is pumped across Northern Europe and under the North Sea to England.

Of course, when supplies failed to arrive on Monday morning, the National Gird and the Conservatives started to panic. Factories (including a major Vauxhall plant and a British Sugar site) had their gas cut off, and a ‘gas-balancing’ alert was sounded, encouraging consumers to conserve existing reserves.

Despite all the yelling, the true nature of Britain’s gas problem refuses to reveal itself – the Labour Party tried to defuse the issue by going to war against the Conservatives, accusing the Shadow Energy Secretary of “scaremongering,” whilst the tabloids declared the apocalypse in a few lines of type.

In the end, Russia bunged the void in British gas supplies by diverting some of its own reserves to the Orman Lange system. But the question still remains – is the UK still balancing atop a gas-less oblivion?

Reports contradict, but there is no denying that Britain has meagre gas reserves, even four days after Ormen Lange was reopened. The country is capable of stockpiling a maximum of 16 days worth of gas, which means that current reserves are likely to be in single digits.

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